Recycler gets about 8,600 TVs ahead of digital switch

Monday

Dec 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMDec 29, 2008 at 5:47 PM

A local recycling company reports approximately 180,000 pounds of used and not-so-used televisions have been turned in since Nov. 1, which marked the start of a city-backed program intended to divert old televisions from landfills ahead of a February switch to all-digital broadcast signals. At an average 21 pounds, that translates to nearly 8,600 sets.

Tim Landis

This TV series might best be called “Shattered.”

A local recycling company reports approximately 180,000 pounds of used and not-so-used televisions have been turned in since Nov. 1, which marked the start of a city-backed program intended to divert old televisions from landfills ahead of a February switch to all-digital broadcast signals. At an average 21 pounds, that translates to nearly 8,600 sets.

But the real boom is yet to come, recyclers say, as Christmas recipients of plasma, wide-screen sets retire their old sets.

“It’s been a steady stream. We get probably 15 to 20 units a day,” said Brian Dickerson, a co-owner of BLH Computers Inc.

The city has a contract with BLH that allows Springfield residents to dispose of old sets for free at the drop-off site, 1832 Stevenson Drive, through May 1. Charges for non-residents vary. BLH also has recycling centers in Jacksonville, Taylorville and Decatur.

It is at the Decatur facility where everything but the time and temperature is stripped out of the sets.

Copper, silver and gold are salvaged from circuit boards and a “yoke” that houses the major components. Circuit-board materials, wiring, electronic parts and metal also can be reused. Plastic parts, including the case, are broken down for a variety of uses.

Only the glass screens are problematic, said Don Sharp, recycling coordinator for BLH.

“It’s the only negative, which is why we have to charge a disposal fee. We have to pay to get rid of the glass, as that’s where the toxic materials are,” Sharp said. He said the glass is cleaned and shipped to a handful of recyclers who convert it to fiberglass.

Some sets still have life in them — as in cable- and satellite-ready — but owners assume because of the age that the units no longer will work once over-the-air broadcasting ends, said Kevin Bone, project manager for We Care Recycling in Carlinville. The not-for-profit recycling center is not a drop-off site, and used televisions are recycled separately.

“With the digital switchover in February, there are still a lot of people who are not in the know, and they don’t realize they can still use their old TVs,” said Bone, who explained that any set that is cable-to-satellite ready still would work after the switch.

Aside from traditional use, old sets could be converted into video-game displays.

While both Bone and BLH representatives said they expect a post-Christmas rush of used sets, they anticipate another round as the February deadline nears.

“Most of the sets we’re getting are 10 to 15 years old, and it’s been in their garage for six or seven years, and they just want to get rid of it,” Bone said.

As awareness of recycling TVs grows, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has begun promoting the effort through a statewide network of recycling centers. As part of the campaign, the agency released figures from a 2007 report by the Illinois Recycling Association that estimated there are nearly 811,000 households in the state that rely on analog sets.

“The U.S. EPA estimates there are 2.5 televisions per household in the United States,” said spokeswoman Ashley Cross, “so the potential in Illinois could be a little more than 2 million sets.”

The agency also is encouraging recycling ahead of a 2012 law that will ban most electronics from Illinois landfills.

Some of the oldest sets to show up in Springfield are black-and-white models from the 1950s, Dickerson said.

“They have the rounded corners on the picture tube,” Dickerson said. No remotes either. Users actually had to get up from their couch to change channels.

Drop-offs also have run to the other extreme, including a wide-screen, plasma television that was the target of a failed burglary. Dickerson estimated the set cost $2,000 to $3,000 new.

“When they couldn’t get it off the wall, they hit it with a crowbar. There’s no repairing it once you break that second layer of glass,” said Dickerson. “The insurance company sent them here because they didn’t want the liability of hanging onto it.”

State Journal-Register

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